Quick

When we're not drinking Manhattans, we'll take an Old Pal. Usually made with rye, we prefer it with bourbon (the higher the proof, the better).

Chopped walnuts nicely complement the rich walnut oil in the dressing.

A bit of salty country ham goes a long way in this quick greens sauté.

This sweet-tea cocktail from the Patterson House includes lime juice and honey for a modern front-porch favorite.

A&M: This may be the most thoughtful sautéed greens recipe we've ever encountered. Beet greens (we agree with Marissa Grace that they deserve more attention in the kitchen) are usually wilted in hot olive oil with a little garlic, and they're delicious this way, but Marissa Grace plotted out ways to amplify the greens’ sweetness while tempering it with chiles. She has you brown garlic with shallot and red pepper flakes, then layer in sugar, black pepper, and salt before adding the greens and wilting them. Just before serving, you splash the beet greens with sherry vinegar, which electrifies the whole dish. The key here is the sugar, which caramelizes with the garlic and tightens up the sauce, so by the time the greens are cooked (and beet greens really should be cooked), it wraps them in a cloak of sweet and fiery sauce.

A&M: When Amy N-B told her husband that she came up with this dish as an homage to a simple French peasant dinner, he teased her: "What peasants eat Bucheron cheese and drink Muscadet with their beets?" "Um, French ones?" Well, in our next life, we'd like to be French peasants, or at least eat like them. We have a soft spot for beet recipes that utilize both the sweet root and minerally tops. Here, Amy N-B has you caramelize slices of yellow and red beets (we used four large beets total; might do three next time) and then add a mix of beet tops and Swiss chard, cooking them just enough to wilt. You'll love the dish at this point, but you'll be riveted if you serve it with a soft Bucheron and good country bread.

On their own, roasted mushrooms are golden, buttery, and delicious, but we've gone a step further and jazzed them up by showering them with a blanket of crunchy, chile-flecked breadcrumbs.

This is part of the recipe Chicken Wings Five Ways.

This is part of the recipe Chicken Wings Five Ways.

This is part of the recipe Chicken Wings Five Ways.

Editor's note: Chef Donald Link of New Orleans restaurants Cochon and Herbsaint, shared this recipe as part of a special Mardi Gras celebration he created for Epicurious. Use the spice mix to make his Link Family Crawfish Boil. When I'm at home and want to cook something quick and easy, I love having this blend in my cabinet so I don't have to fish out a bunch of spices. There is no salt in this mix, so be sure to add salt to whatever you are cooking. (I do the salt separately because some food needs more of it than others.) I use this mix for everything from fish fillets to jambalaya.
For the record, I let a few people call me Donnie—my cousin Billy Boy, Richard Reddington, Grandma Hammack, and my coauthor, Paula. It was the latter who named this recipe.

You’d think that a recipe for bread and butter and salt would be unnecessary. But I truly believe that one of life’s greatest eating pleasures consists of a loaf of wonderful crusty bread, sweet butter or olive oil, and salt. Those three components, eaten with your hands and shared among friends, truly is a sustaining combination. The country loaf from Tartine is pictured.

This salad is a delightful interplay of sweet, creamy, tangy, and peppery flavors. If you prefer, you can swap in ricotta salata or a mild feta for the ricotta; both are saltier than fresh ricotta, so skip the seasoning with zest, salt, and pepper. Apricots have but a brief appearance even at the peak of their season. If you miss them, you can substitute with any other stone fruit. White nectarines, peaches, pluots, or plums would be particularly nice. In the fall, sliced fuyu persimmons are perfect. Whatever fruit you use, just make sure it’s ripe and flavorful.

This salad is a wonderful way to venture into the world of raw squash. Using the truffle version of pecorino isn’t absolutely critical, but its earthiness is a fantastic counterpoint to the brighter flavors of squash and lemon juice. For best results, use the smallest, firmest, freshest squash you can find— they’re easier to grate and taste better than the more mature ones. And because this salad is so simple (almost minimalist), the quality of your olive oil really counts.

This chilled soup always makes me imagine what summer in Eden must have been like: silky, verdant, bright, and refreshing. My only other need would be a glass of cava or vinho verde to go with it. The quality of your avocados is key to this recipe. Try to find the Haas or Bacon varieties from a domestic grower—the Fuerte ones from Chile (which are common in supermarkets) are too watery.

This is the perfect simple ending to an elaborate meal (or any meal, really). It requires practically no prep and is infinitely modifiable. Figs out of season? Use apples, apricots, or orange segments instead. Don’t like walnuts? Use pistachios or hazelnuts. But you will get the richest, most decadent results by sticking with Greek yogurt.

In this fast and easy recipe, the shrimp release their juices and create a delicious sauce in the pan. Using unpeeled shrimp with heads on does make it a little messier to eat, but the results are finger-licking good. If serving this as a main course, a bed of couscous or steamed rice is a nice accompaniment to help soak up the sauce.

Cherries are just as delightful in savory contexts as they are in sweet ones; here, they’re combined with sage and a little vinegar to complement the mild flavor of pork chops. This is a perfect dish for a romantic dinner for two. This is a classic example of a simple pan sauce and can be modified for different meats or seasons. Try swapping in different fruits, herbs, or vinegars, depending on your whims and desires. If cherries aren’t in season, figs or apricots would be especially good.

Chimichurri sauce hails from Argentina and is sort of like a vinegary pesto. The sauce’s bright herby notes bring an unexpected freshness to the plate and balance out the rich beefy steak. Bavette is an underappreciated and fairly inexpensive cut that’s common in French bistros, and very similar to (and from the same muscle group as) flank steak. It’s flavorful but also tender, especially if you don’t cook it beyond medium-rare. If you can’t find bavette, flank or skirt steak would be the closest substitute, but any steak cut would work just as well. If you have leftovers, pile the beef on a baguette or crusty roll, top with onions, and slather on the sauce for a fantastic sandwich.